70+ Awesome Tumblr Themes

Sometimes it seems like Tumblr is the most often overlooked blogging platform out there. People are never quite sure what to make of it.

It’s not quite like a “regular” blog platform (like WordPress or Blogger) and it’s not microblogging either. It’s tumblogging, but a lot of people don’t know what thadet means.

And it can be a little daunting for designers who are trying to figure out how to develop Tumblr themes considering there are seven post types (or eight if you count photo slideshow posts as separate from regular photo posts).

One thing that Tumblr definitely has going in its favor is the number of themes that are now available. Tons of free themes and a growing premium theme marketplace make it easy to find a theme you like, and most are easily customizable even if you don’t know tons of code.

Below are more than 70 awesome Tumblr themes, more than half of them free.

Vintage Scrapbook ($49)

Stockholm ($49)

Stockholm has a minimalist look and is designed to work well with blogs that are heavy on images. It includes subtle patterns and simply typography, and also has support for Disqus comments and Typekit integration.

Leica ($49)

Leica is a gallery/portfolio theme with four columns of images. It’s perfect for photographers, illustrators and designers. It includes customizable link, title, and navigation colors, and a special layout for custom pages, among other features.

Ascender ($49)

Ascender comes in both dark and light varieties, and is built on a flexible grid. You can also customize the color scheme, add Typekit fonts, and choose between two different post sizes (250px or 400px).

Inspire Well ($49)

Inspire Well is a flexible grid-based theme with customizable colors, background image, and more than 30 other options. It also has three different post sizes (1, 2, or 3 columns wide) that are easy to activate with tags.

Paris Nights ($49)

Rank & File ($49)

Rank & File is a clean, modern theme with a more traditional blog layout than many Tumblr blogs. It includes a number of theme customization options, including color options and a customizable header image.

Meteoro 2028 ($15)

Meteoro 2028 is a robust, minimalist portfolio theme that has support for both images and video (YouTube and Vimeo at the moment). The color scheme can be fully customized, and it includes a custom slideshow for photosets.

Fanfarron ($10)

Vintage Sky ($20)

Vintage Sky has a muted color scheme and a pretty Fail Whale illustration in the header (with cloud animations). You can customize the background image, header image, and many other aspects of the theme.

Scribble ($9)

Scribble is a hand-drawn theme with a crumpled paper background texture. Unlike many hand-drawn designs, though, it has a very structured look, as if a straight-edge had been used in the drawing process (unlike the organic lines of most designs of this style).

Nova ($49)

Nova has a clean grunge look, with paper-like accents and three color schemes. It includes nearly 50 appearance options, two layout modes (standard two-column and wide one-column), and customizable colors and background and header images.

Do you use or design themes for Tumblr? What’s your favorite Tumblr theme? Let us know in the comments!

By Cameron Chapman

Cameron Chapman is a freelance writer and designer from New England. You can visit her site or follow her on Twitter. More articles by Cameron Chapman